I had PRK on my right eye on Aug 17th. This was to correct my post LASIK night time starbusts and a little astigmatism of 1 diopter.

I am in the middle of the 6th week post op. I am seeing double vision or sometimes multiple images from a distance. I just had my eye exam last week. The sugeon said that this is normal and that it will be fine. Told me to tapper of the FML drops for next four weeks and then come for eye exam.

my question is that does Corneal Haze cause ghosting effect ?

According to doctor my surface is completely smooth but its still healing.

What exactly is this healing about ?

I am thinking that 6 week post PRK and If I still see ghosting that implies I might have regular or irregular astigmatism.

Has anyone recovered from the similar situation ? Please post your replies.

Corneal haze would not cause a ghosting effect. It would cause a loss of contrast - colors would look washed out, lack of detail.

Ghosting indicates an irregularity in the cornea, commonly astigmatism. Because you had PRK on the Lasik flap and are still using steroids, the irregularity may be caused by edema (swelling). Long-term use of steroids can cause irregularities. It would be reasonable to expect improvement as you taper off the FML.

PRK takes a long time to fully restore vision. PRK on the Lasik flap can take even longer.

LasikExpert wrote:Corneal haze would not cause a ghosting effect. It would cause a loss of contrast - colors would look washed out, lack of detail..

Thanks. Doctor did say that its a slight haze which should go away.

Long-term use of steroids can cause irregularities. It would be reasonable to expect improvement as you taper off the FML.

PRK takes a long time to fully restore vision. PRK on the Lasik flap can take even longer.

Could you please provide more details on what exactly are the actions of steroids on cornea that cause this irregularity ?

Is there any way to measure the edema ? I mean docs just say that it might be due to swelling but why can't we measure the edema so that we can be sure that it is due to edema ?

I know that six weeks is too early to panic but the thought that after spenidng so much money I would again have to wear glasses ( maybe) , is killing me.

Also the uncertainity that the eyes might not heal eventually is not at all helping me. I mean why can't there be any quantitative measure whereby we can certainly say that the double vision is due to one particular reason ?

Surgeon and optometrist keep on telling me its healing . its smoothening.but what exactly happens in healing , is what I am looking for ?

The only thing that is helping me is that I have gone to a very reputed doctor at New port beach ( TLC Laser center ). He claims that he has done more than 70000 surgeries till now and from his experience he feels that this double vision will go away with time.[/quote]

aarnav0529 wrote:Could you please provide more details on what exactly are the actions of steroids on cornea that cause this irregularity?

I'll let your doctor provide the details, but steroids change the wound healing response of the cells within the cornea. This can cause temporary changes that may translate into poor vision quality.

aarnav0529 wrote:Is there any way to measure the edema ? I mean docs just say that it might be due to swelling but why can't we measure the edema so that we can be sure that it is due to edema?

The problem with measuring an irregularity is that you need to know what is regular. Since you have had surgery, it is difficult to know what is the current natural state of your eye. What is attributed to edema may actually be astigmatism, and the other way around. The best way to know what is caused by edema is to allow the eye to heal, the edema to subside, and what remains is non-edema irregularity.

aarnav0529 wrote:I know that six weeks is too early to panic but the thought that after spenidng so much money I would again have to wear glasses ( maybe) , is killing me.

It is way too early to panic. There will be plenty of time for panic later. 8^D

aarnav0529 wrote:Also the uncertainity that the eyes might not heal eventually is not at all helping me. I mean why can't there be any quantitative measure whereby we can certainly say that the double vision is due to one particular reason ?

It is hard to hit a moving target. While you are healing it is really difficult to know what nuance is permament and what nuance is part of the healing process.

aarnav0529 wrote:Surgeon and optometrist keep on telling me its healing . its smoothening. but what exactly happens in healing , is what I am looking for ?

There are volumes of medial research on what happens during healing, but what you are looking for is improved vision quality. Even this is somewhat difficult because the changes come so slowly. It is like watching a clock pass time.

aarnav0529 wrote:The only thing that is helping me is that I have gone to a very reputed doctor at Newport beach ( TLC Laser center ). He claims that he has done more than 70000 surgeries till now and from his experience he feels that this double vision will go away with time.

There is nothing better than a good doctor. It sounds like he has been though this before. Rely on his experience and advice.

Thanks for your replies. But I still think that LASIK doctors should spend more time on post Op care. They should also spend some more time in
getting quantitative measures rather than just saying that it might be edema or might be irregularities or it could be this or could be that.

Anyways, I don't want to sound like I know more then doctors and surgeons but if more money is spent on research of post op care I am sure some methods could be found to quantify or say for sure the reason for slow healing or double images etc.

With this said, I will have to keep patience and thanks for your information. I do really like this forum whereby people can share their experiences.